Welcome to the Mennonite Heritage Museum. Dedicated in 1974, the museum
complex was established to preserve the artifacts from early
households, farms, schools, churches and the hospital in our Mennonite
community.

The museum was erected as a living tribute to the forefathers of the Goessel
community who settled this area. It tells the story of the Mennonite families
who left Russia for religious freedom in 1874 and chose the Kansas plains
for their new home.

The museum
complex consists of eight buildings, including the Immigrant House and
the Turkey Red Wheat Palace. Six historic buildings from the community
have been moved to the museum for preservation and restoration.

The Museum
Store in the Immigrant House features a variety of ethnic cookbooks, local
history books, wheat weaving, and other Goessel/Kansas gift items.

The Immigrant
House is a replica of those built by the Santa Fe Railroad to provide
temporary shelter and housing for the immigrants. At the west end of the
building is an exhibit illustrating the interior of the immigrant houses
when it was used for shelter. Other exhibits in the Immigrant House include
thirty showcases which contain personal items related to the pioneer families
that arrived in Kansas in the fall of 1874. These exhibits were designed
by descendants of the immigrants. A scale replica of the Alexanderwohl
Mennonite Church, 1886-1928, is also on exhibit.

The Turkey
Red Wheat Palace is a tribute to the farmers who introduced and developed
the wheat industry in Kansas. The Mennonites who settled in Kansas brought
with them seeds of Turkey Red Wheat, a hard winter wheat, which proved
to be productive and eventually developed Kansas into the "Bread
Basket of the World". The Wheat Palace features a blacksmith shop,
farm machinery and tools relevant to the late 1800s and early 1900s.